#open star clusters

[currentskycom]

Check out my newest essay.

A King, Queen, and Stars

A 'Mega-Collection' of Open Star Clusters within Cepheus and Cassiopeia

[mystarypi-astronomy]

This is Messier 25! ✨✨✨

The mass of this open cluster is around 2000 times that of the Sun but around a quarter of that is actually interstellar matter instead of stars. This cluster is around 2000 light years away and 67.6 million years old! 🥰🥰🥰

Taken by me (Michelle Park) using the Slooh Canary Two telescope on May 12th, 2021 at 00:47 UTC. 

[mystarypi-astronomy]

It seems like more people prefer clusters than nebulae so here is a collage of some of my best clusters! 

Here is a collection of some of my best cluster photos: Pleiades, Double Cluster, Butterfly Cluster, Omega Centauri, Sagittarius Globular Cluster, and Baade’s Window! ✨🌟🌠⭐🎆🎇🎊💫

  👁👄👁

  💪👕👌

    🦵🦵

[mystarypi-astronomy]

This is the Flying Unicorn Cluster! 🦄🦄🦄

Located in the constellation Aquila, this cluster takes an irregular shape that resembles a unicorn. This cluster has a large amount of double stars, or pairs of stars that look like they are orbiting one another or are orbiting each other! ✨✨✨

The unicorn is facing towards the right and you might be able to see some of the clumps of stars that resemble its legs! 💞💞💞

Taken by me (Michelle Park) using the Slooh Canary Two telescope on September 28th, 2020 at 1:18 UTC.

[stargateatlspace]

M7: Open Star Cluster in Scorpius 

[stargateatlspace]

Open Star Clusters M35 and NGC 2158 

[angwe-blog]

This link was in the explanation for today's APOD, but I thought I'd make it an extra post because these are too beautiful not to post. This is a retrospective of all the open star clusters that have been featured on APOD, including this lovely shot from 2006 of a star cluster I was looking at this morning (the sky over the 'burbs is largely clear). The Pleiades (The Seven Sisters/M45) are so bright that light pollution is less of an issue: